The Madness
Real Name: Teddy Pierce Age: 37 Power Source: mutation Appearance: wears a dark green two-piece sleeveless leotard. Possesses long and powerful legs, and gray eyes that shine pink when employing his power. Eyes regularly appear distant but in deeply intense thought. Very neatly combed brown hair. Superpowers: The Madness originally possessed superhuman reflexes and enhanced strength in his legs. Over years, he somehow developed further powers, an uncommon condition among superhumans. These include the ability to stick his hands and feet to some surfaces and a peculiar charm to some that may or may not be attributed to a super power. His most feared ability is his conscious power to look into the eyes of others and cause insanity. This can vary to many degrees, usually affected by the target’s tendencies for madness to begin with. Conditions may include hallucinations, delusions, panic, severe depression or elation, or even entering a comatose state. These tend to fade away within a few hours, but select few victims have been unable to shake their condition. It is presumed to be due to prolonged exposure to his gaze. He is well trained in martial arts, particularly monkey style, making him extremely flexible and quick-footed. Affiliation: The Madhouse crime syndicate, The Kings of Crime Biography: Theodore Pierce was born with exceptionally active genes, though only discovered during genetic samplings taken after his first capture. Teddy experienced parental abuse at an early age (kicking his parents around with ease by 5), immediately leaving him with next to no authority figure. Teddy seemed to build no moral compass whatsoever, and was hyperactive and cruel even in kindergarten. He was deemed unfit for public school, landing him a number of personal tutors in its place. The family went through several teachers before reaching their ideal with a psychology professor who held an interest in Teddy (and who brought his own straight jacket). While wild and rebellious, Teddy was shockingly revealed to be an excellent study, learning remarkably quickly and having an incredible appetite for literature. Only while studying did Teddy seem placated, even kind, though the tutor suspected a developing reclusive or schizophrenic tendencies. In discussions with Teddy, he discovered that he admired the villains of the books he gorged his mind on. Their nearly inevitable defeat seemed to leave him unphased as they were almost always free to do what they liked, much as he was or would wish to be. It was unbeknownst to him that his dynamic genetic makeup was changing, developing his new power from these wishes and condition. He began to gradually warp the mind of his instructor with his developing insanity gaze, secretly urging him to teach him what he wanted to know to be a criminal (chemistry, law, social psychology). When the professor was forced to excuse himself one day, he was found at his home later that evening, attempting to hang himself and laughing maniacally as he did. The Madness appeared in the public eye at age 20. A public assault on a number of randomly selected citizens landed his arrest quite rapidly, being sent to the newly developed Superhuman Support Center psychiatric ward. This proved to be a terrible error. While in the asylum, The Madness spoke with other inmates regularly. His were innocent and inquiring questions on the surface, but he was gradually learning all he could about his inmates to gain the upper hand on them, and to know how to use and who to side with when his escape came. He immediately allied with Headstone and Arachnoid, the slowly maddened stone-man and the reclusive insect-tamer. He tactically planned an escape using other inmates as distractions, making sure to bring his two allies with him to forever stay at his command. He would burn the center to the ground a week later, and shortly after made its ruins his default headquarters. Madness quickly climbed the ladder of the criminal underworld until he was appointed one of the 8 Kings of Crime, the kingpins of organized crime in Empire City. The Madness’ circle, The Madhouse, is known for being a select but very dangerous group focused on directing superhuman crimes, including city-wide affects and general destruction. The Madness is an infamous criminal for assorted reasons, including his intentional application of his lacking sanity to regularly escape full punishment for his horrendously chaotic crimes, or at least delaying the courts long enough for him to apply one of his escape plans. The Madness is incredibly unpredictable, his mood and opinions swaying wildly enough that not even archenemies know where they stand with him at times. The Madness does seem to maintain his obsession with being a cartoonishly hated villain, a ruthless want for destruction one of his few constants.